Nursing unit with improved plastic liner

ABSTRACT

An impervious baby bottle is provided with a plastic liner, a nursing nipple and a retaining cap. A venting insert is provided at the bottle mouth, between the lip and the liner, to vent the area between the bottle and liner to atmosphere so the liner collapses as liquid is dispensed therefrom. The bottle is provided with an annular recess into which the venting insert fits to position and hold the insert at the bottle lip. The plastic liner is formed of a flattened plastic tube having reentrant folds at the longitudinal sides.

i i, 1 .1; il'iiiteei mites Patent [15] 3,M,M

Barr Well. 29, 11972 [54] NUMSHNG UNH'H WHTH llMl'PQVlElD 2,624,485 1/1953 Boston ..2l5/ll B g Q LHNEfi 3,204,855 9/l965 Boynton. ..2l5/ll R X 3,362,555 1/1968 Soto ..2l5/ll R Inventor: Arthur m 111 g St, Madison, 3,545,637 12/:970 Barr ..215/ll B Wis. 53703 [22] Filed: Aug 3 1970 Primary Examiner-Donald F. Norton Attorney-McCanna, Morsbach, Pillote & Muir [21] Appl. No; 68,368

Related US. Application Date [57] ABSTRACT An impervious baby bottle is provided with a plastic liner, a [63] g gzi gg g ig 2g fili g i fifi g ggl l nursing nipple and a retaining cap. A venting insert is provided an N 7 A Jul 1968 Pat No at the bottle mouth, between the lip and the liner, to vent the g 471 050 y area between the bottle and liner to atmosphere so the liner collapses as liquid is dispensed therefrom. The bottle is pro- [52] ugh CL "215, m 206/58 vided with an annular recess into which: the venting insert fits [51] HHLCL Agni 9/04 to position and hold the insert at the bottle lip. The plastic [58] Field oiSearch ..215/11 R 11 B liner is formed of a flattened Plastic tube having reemmm folds at the longitudinal sides. [56] References Cited 8 Claims, 11 Drawing Figures UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,885,104 5/1959 Greenspan ..2l5/l1 R X /33 I {5 ii I 9 NUIRSTNG lUl lllT Wli'lllii IMPROVED lPlLASTiC lLEhIEllt CROSSREFERENCE BACKGROUND The invention pertains generally to bottles adapted for nursing; that is for dispensing liquid infant food.

The conventional baby nurser includes a reusable bottle, nipple and cap. It has the advantage of being reusable, but certain disadvantages when used with young infants. One chief disadvantage is the possibility of colic resulting from feeding air through the nipple. Nursing units having collapsible liners overcome this problem but, for the most part, are useless without the liners. Thus, should a mother run out of liners at an inopportune time, a different nursing unit must be used. Other prior art arrangements have incorporated a plastic liner with a conventional nurser, for example see U.S. Pat. No. 2,624,485. These, however, do not overcome the disadvantages of the conventional nurser.

In my U.S. Pat. No. 3,471,050, there is disclosed the combination of an impervious baby bottle, a plastic liner, a nursing nipple, a retaining cap, and a venting insert at the bottle mouth, between the lip and the liner, to vent the area between the bottle and the liner to atmosphere so the liner collapses as the liquid is dispensed. In the aforementioned copending application, there is disclosed the combination of a nursing unit of the above type with an improved venting insert. However, it is still difficult to insert the plastic liners into the bottle. This is because available plastic liners have a flattened width which is much wider that the bottle. Such a plastic liner must be folded over by a user, to enable entry into the bottle. This makes it quite difficult to turn down the upper portion of the liner out side the bottle. To mount the plastic liner on the bottle while maintaining sterile conditions, mechanical devices have been proposed, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,900,779. This requires an additional mechanism which must be sterilized.

The fact that the flattened plastic liners are wider than the bottle creates another problem. The relatively stiff seal line at the bottom of the plastic liner is longer than the diameter of the bottle. Thus the seal tends to kink and cause a gap between the bottle and liner. This gap contains air which insulates the liquid infant food during sterilization and subsequent reheating prior to feeding the baby.

SUMMARY The present invention relates generally to nursing units. More particularly, the present invention relates to a nursing unit which provides a collapsible liner in an impervious bottle, a venting insert which allows the liner to collapse as the liquid infant food is dispensed, and to an improved plastic liner for use therewith. The invention also relates to a method of applying the improved liner to the bottle.

It is a general object of the present invention to provide a nursing unit which has the advantage of both the conventional nurser and the collapsible nurser.

Another object is to provide a nursing unit which can be used as either a conventional nurser or a collapsible nurser.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a nursing unit which utilizes a baby bottle and a flexible liner in the bottle, and provides apparatus for communicating the area between the liner and bottle to atmosphere so that the liner collapses as the liquid infant food is dispensed therefrom.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a nursing unit which has an improved plastic liner which is more easily inserted into the bottle, and better conforms to the bottle.

It is another object to provide disposable plastic liner of such construction that it may be assembled to the bottle without using mechanical apparatus and at the same time be maintained sterile, and to a method of applying the liner on the bottle.

These, and other objects and advantages of the present invention, will become obvious as the invention becomes better understood from the following description when taken with the drawings.

DRAWINGS FIG. 11 is generally a vertical sectional view, with part of the plastic liner in elevation, of a preferred embodiment of the present invention filled with a liquid infant food;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the nursing unit taken along line 2-2 of FIG. l, but in a dispensing position and il lustrating the collapsing of the flexible liner as the liquid is dispensed;

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view, on an enlarged scale, illus trating the relationship of the parts and the venting means in greater detail;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are a vertical sectional view and a bottom view, respectively, of a preferred insert utilized in the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view on a still larger scale than FIG. 3, and showing the relationship between the bottle and the venting insert and taken on a line other than through a venting opening;

FIG. '7 is a top view of a bottle with the venting insert in place and having a plastic liner inserted through the bottle neck prior to applying;

FIG. ft is a partial perspective view showing one step in applying the plastic liner on the bottle;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 9-9 of HG. ll and showing how the plastic liner conforms to the bottle; and

FIGS. 10 and 1111 are each a perspective view of a roll of sterile liners, each being a different embodiment.

DESCRIPTION Reference is now made more particularly to the drawings which illustrate one form of the present invention and wherein similar reference characters indicate the same parts throughout the several views.

The nursing unit of the present invention includes a bottle 10, a nipple 112, and a retaining cap 14. The bottle l0 is preferably made of a strong, generally transparent material, such as glass or plastic, and which material is resistant to heat and impervious to liquid. In the embodiment illustrated, the bottle is of circular shape and of the 8-ounce size, it being understood that other sizes and shapes may be utilized. On the side of the bottle are longitudinally positioned, spaced indicia or markings for determining the amount of liquid infant food 218 remaining in the unit. In the embodiment illustrated, the bottle is slightly necked at the top leaving a generally wide mouth 22 which terminates in a lip 23. The bottle lip 23 is preferably smooth and flat. As is conventional, the top of the bottle is circular in cross section and provided with a screw thread 241 at the outside of the neck. Preferably, the thread 24 is discontinuous, as best seen in FIG. 3, for a purpose hereafter explained.

Received in the bottle 10 is a flexible liner 30 that is preferably impervious to liquid, being made of a strong, generally transparent, heat-resistant material, such as synthetic resin. The bottom edge of the liner or bag 30 is sealed at ET. The top of the liner is open and turned back over the top of the bottle as shown at 32. The length and diameter of the liner, when filled with the liquid infant food lid, is great enough to fill the entire bottle so that the indicia may serve to accurately indicate the true quantity of the contents in the liner. Additionally, by lying closely adjacent the walls of the bottle 30, heat is transmitted through the liner 30 to the liquid infant food 1115 when the bottle is warmed.

The bag or liner 3!) is formed from a plastic tube preferably by extruding a thermoplastic in the form of a hollow, tubular body. The tube is sterilized by supplying a fluid into the tubular body and which fluid is heated to a temperature sufficient for sterilization. The tube is maintained in the sterile condition through subsequent steps.

The tube is passed through jaws which tuck in the opposite sides of the tube to form reentrant folds 33-35 and 3335, as best shown in FIGS. 1 and fl. The folds at each side form two panels similar to those of a bellows as shown in FIG. 7. The tube thus constituted is flattened so as to bring these panels face-to-face and provide two flat outer sides. The flattening removes any of the sterilizing fluid from the tubular body, The tubular body is transversely heat sealed at spaced intervals to provide the seals 31. This provides a strip of integrally connected liners which are free from internal contamination.

The strip of liners is perforated across its flattened width either in a straight line 36 (FIG. 11) or line 38 (FIG. to facilitate detaching individual liners 30 from the strip. Line 38 is arranged to form tabs 39 at the extremity of the flat sides for a purpose hereinafter explained. As seen in FIG. 10, the panels are spaced apart slightly to provide for the tabs.

An ordinary baby bottle, now available on the market, has a body with an effective inside diameter of about l /ainches, an inside circumference of about 5.9 inches, and walls about oneeighth inch thick. Some of these have a reduced neck portion defining a mouth with about IAinches inside diameter.

For use in the present invention it is preferably that the mouth be of a slightly smaller diameter than the body, so that the outside mouth diameter is no larger than the inside diameter of the body. In this manner, the liner 30 is easily turned down outside the bottle. At the same time, it is preferable that the inside diameter of the mouth be not less than one-quarter of the inside circumference of the body so that the flattened liner 30 can pass through the mouth without being folded. It will be understood, however, that the liner 30 as constructed in accordance with the present invention has distinct advantages even when used with existing baby bottles. The term bottle is meant to include glass or plastic bottles or holders in which plastic liners may be used.

As indicated above, the liner 30 preferably has reentrant folds and thus advantageously has a flattened width considerably less than one-half its peripheral width. Preferably the flattened width is in the range of one-quarter to one-third of the peripheral width. One-third is the preferred upper limit since it approximates pi (1r). One-quarter is the preferred lower limit since it can be accomplished by the illustrated reentrant fold which gives four layers of plastic in flattened position. While additional folds and panels are possible, it complexes the manufacture and makes the sealing step difflcult.

Overlying the liner 30 at the top lip 23 of the bottle, is the aforementioned nipple l2 which is held in place by the retaining cap 14. In general, the nipple 12 includes a peripheral flange 42 and a hollow teat portion 44 rising upwardly therefrom. The tip end of the nipple has an opening 46 for dispensing of the liquid infant food. The nipple illustrated is identical to that illustrated and described in US. Pat. No. 3,1 13,569 issued to Arthur C. Barr and Norma K. Barr, and reference is made thereto for a more complete description thereof. It should be understood, however, that any conventional nipple may be utilized with the present invention.

The retaining cap 14 has an inwardly extending flange 52 with a circular opening 54. The flange 52 overlies the nipple flange 42 and the opening 54 permits the teat portion 44 to project therethrough. The cap M has a downtumed annular flange 56 having an internal thread 58 which engages the bottle thread 24 to hold the cap in place. When the cap is tightly screwed down, a seal is provided between the nipple flange 42 and the liner 30.

In FIG. 1 the nursing unit is shown with the liner holding the liquid infant food. The weight of the liquid causes the liner to assume the shape of the bottle, as shown. As indicated above,

the seal 31 has a length less than the diameter of the bottle body. In this manner, the seal can lie closely adjacent the bottom of the bottle 14. The weight of the liquid 18 will cause the liner 30 to assume the folds illustrated in FIG. 9 and conform to the bottom of the bottle while the panels lie against the sides of the bottle. Thus the liquid 18 generally fills the bottom of the bottle and there is practically no trapped air to insulate the liquid when being sterilized or heated.

In FIG. 2, the nursing unit is shown in a dispensing position with the liner 30 collapsed around the liquid. To allow the liner 30 to collapse, a venting insert 60 is provided for venting the area between the liner and the bottle 10 to atmosphere, to allow air into that area when the liquid is dispensed. In this manner, the dispensing through the opening 46 closely approximates the natural form of feeding. The liquid can be more easily withdrawn by a newborn baby, for example, than when the baby must draw a partial vacuum on the bottle as occurs in a conventional nurser. Additionally, with the collapse of the flexible liner 30, no flow of air into the liner is required thereby alleviating the possibility of colic.

The venting insert 60 cooperates with the bottle 10 in being positioned and secured thereon. Attention is directed to FIG. 6 as best illustrating this cooperation. As to the bottle structure, the bottleneck has a special configuration which has a diametrically reduced portion 1 12 adjacent the lip 23. In other words, there is an external annular recess at the lip. This portion 112 is formed with an annular radial rib 113, the lower side 114 of which provides an abutment designed for holding engagement with the venting insert 60. The upper side of rib H3 is the outer portion of lip 23 and may slope outwardly and downwardly to the outer surface of the rib by means of surface 3 18 of comparatively large radius.

Referring now to FIGS. 3-6, there is shown venting insert 60 which is one embodiment of an apparatus which cooperates in venting the space between the liner 30 and the bottle 10 to atmosphere. Other embodiments are illustrated and described in the above cross-referenced applications. As shown, the insert 60 has a generally U-shaped cross section. The insert 60 includes a first portion 62 designed to overlie the bottle lip 23. The upper surface of portion 62 is preferably flat and smooth, and it is over this upper surface that the liner extends. Thus, it is the upper surface of portion 62 to which the liner is clamped by the nipple flange 42. A second annular portion 63 depends from portion 62 and is shaped for fitting into the annular recess of the bottle 10 and engaging rib 113, as will hereafter be explained in greater detail.

A plurality of channels are provided in the insert 60 to allow the passage of air from the outside of the bottle into the space between the liner and inside of the bottle. For this purpose, a plurality of radially extending grooves 66 extend along the bottom side of the portion 62 and through the depending portions 63. In this manner, grooves 66 are advantageously in communication with the inside of the bottleneck and with the bottle lip to provide an air vent extending to the outside of the bottle. Air at atmospheric pressure can reach the grooves 66 by flowing between the threaded neck of the bottle and the downtumed portion of the insert 30. To aid in this communication, the thread 24 is interrupted or discontinuous, as shown in FIG. 3, to provide an air passageway from the outside of the nursing unit to the aforementioned grooves. Alternately, the threads 24 and 58 may be so arranged to provide an air channel therealong to accomplish the same purpose. With either structure, means is provided for continuously venting the space between the insert 30 and the bottle 10 to allow the flexible liner 30 to collapse as the liquid infant food is dispensed therefrom.

The venting insert 60 is preferably formed of polyethylene or some like elastic material so that it can be attached to bottle 10. Referring again to FIG. 6, the venting insert 60 is generally a collarlike shape, and the second portion 63 comprises an annular vertical web. The outer surface of second portion 63 is generally at a right angle to the upper surface of first portion 62, and is generally coextensive with the outer surface of the bottleneck below the annular recess (see FIG. 3). As can be seen, however, there is tolerance and these surfaces need not be exactly coextensive.

Ready attachment of the venting insert db to the rib 1113 is facilitated by reason of the upwardly and inwardly curved guiding surface 124 on second portion 63, and the upwardly facing annular shoulder 125 provided at the upper margin of the curved surface il -ll. Shoulder 125 is so spaced below first portion at that, when the venting insert is in operating position, the radial rib M3 is effectively gripped between the shoulder 125 and the first portion as.

The venting insert is applied merely by pressing it downwardly over the neck portion llllil until the shoulder 125 snaps over the radial rib M3. When this position has been attained, the venting insert is secured to the bottle and will remain there until removed by a user.

in bottle manufacture, outside tolerances can be readily maintained while inside tolerances cannot. Thus, by being secured to the outside of the bottle, venting insert so can be readily manufactured. A depending positioning element inside the bottle mouth is not required, but if utilized, it may be spaced from the bottle mouth 22 and thereby aid the venting function.

The nursing unit described herein can be utilized as a conventional nurser, if desired, by removal of the venting insert an. As described above, the nursing unit can be utilized with the insert fill and liner Bill as a collapsible nurser. in this manner, the unit is convertible.

It is now deemed obvious that the nursing unit has the advantages of both the conventional nurser and the collapsible nurser. This desirable result is accomplished by providing a flexible liner in a baby bottle and apparatus for communicating the area between the liner and the bottle to atmosphere so that the liner collapses as the liquid infant food dispensed therefrom. The bottle is formed with an annular rim and has a venting insert which is selectively attachable to the annular rim.

it is also deemed obvious that the liner, in accordance with the present invention, is easier to install into baby bottles and better conforms to the inside of the bottle, especially at the bottom. This is accomplished by having a flattened width about one-third to one-quarter of the total peripheral width of the liner. To obtain this greatly reduced width, reentrant folds are provided at opposite sides of the liner. The relatively narrow scam at the bottom together with the reentrant folds aids in conforming to the bottle bottom.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

l. A nursing unit for liquid infant food including, in combination:

an impervious, reusable bottle having an annular neck at the top and terminating in a peripheral lip defining an open mouth, and the bottle having an external annular recess at the lip;

a nursing nipple overlying the bottle mouth and lip;

a disposable, impervious plastic liner received in the bottle for holding the liquid infant food and having an upper portion extending over the bottle lip under the nursing nipple and turned downwardly outside the bottleneck, the plastic liner being made of a thin tube having a peripheral width approximating that of the internal circumference of the bottle and a length greater than the height of the bottle, the thin tube being flattened and having reentrant folds at each side so that its flattened width is considerably less than half its peripheral width to facilitate entry into the bottle mouth, and the thin tube being closed at the bottom and open at the upper portion;

a venting insert having means for continuously venting the area between the bottle and liner to atmosphere so the liner collapses as the liquid is dispensed therefrom, the insort having a first portion overlying the bottle lip and a second portion received in the external annular recess of the bottle; and a removable retaining cap overlying a portion of the nursing nipple for clamping the nursing nipple against the liner to provide a liquidtight seal therebetween.

2, The combination of claim ll wherein the reentrant folds of the plastic liner extend adjacent the center of the flattened sides so that the total flattened width of the tube is about onequarter its peripheral width, whereby the flattened tube is easily inserted into the bottle mouth.

3. The combination of claim ll including a seal at the bottom of the tube to close the same, the seal extending through the reentrant folds to hold the same in position.

i. The combination of claim ll wherein the plastic liner has a finger-gripping tab at the center of the top of each flattened side.

5. In a nursing unit for liquid infant food including an impervious, reusable bottle having a neck at the top and terminating in a peripheral lip defining an open mouth; a nursing nipple overlying the bottle mouth; and mounting means for mounting the nursing nipple at the bottle mouth; the improvement comprising;

a disposable, impervious liner received in the bottle for holding the liquid, the liner being open at the top end and closed at the bottom, the liner being formed from a tube having a peripheral width approximating the internal circumference of the bottle, the tube being initially flat with two flat sides and two pleated sides so arranged that its flattened width is about one-quarter to one'third of its peripheral width, whereby the flattened tube is easily inserted into the bottle mouth; and

annular venting means at the bottle mouth between the bottie and liner for communicating the area between the bottle and liner to atmosphere so the liner collapses as the liquid is dispensed therefrom, and the venting means hav ing an internal diameter approximating the flattened width of the tube whereby the tube is easily inserted into the bottle with the venting means in place.

a. The combination of claim 5 wherein the pleated sides of the tube are formed by reentrant folds at each side, the tube is formed of plastic, and the tube has a transverse weld at the bottom extending through the folded tube layers to hold the pleats in position during insertion ofthe liner into the bottle.

7. In a nursing unit for liquid infant food including a reusable bottle having a mouth defining a lip, a nursing nipple overlying the bottle mouth, and mounting means for mounting the nursing nipple at the bottle mouth; the improvement comprising: a disposable, impervious liner formed of flexible plastic and adapted to be received in the bottle for holding the liquid infant food; the liner having a seal at the bottom and having an upper portion adapted for extending over the bottle lip and turning downwardly outside the bottle mouth; the plastic liner being made of a thin tube of uniform peripheral width, the tube being flattened and having reentrant folds at opposite sides so that the flattened width is less than about one-third of the peripheral width of the tube and the flattened width being generally not greater than the diameter of the bottle mouth, whereby the flattened tube is easily inserted into the bottle through the bottle mouth.

8. The combination of claim '7 wherein the bottle has a main body with an internal circumference equal to about the peripheral width of the tube, and a redluced neck portion ad jacent the bottle mouth having an internal diameter not less than about one-quarter of the internal circumference of the bottle; the liner has a length greater than the height of the bottle; and the liner has a flattened width approximating the diameter of the bottle mouth; whereby the flattened tube is easily inserted through the bottle mouth and, when filled, lies adjacent the interior of the bottle body. 

1. A nursing unit for liquid infant food including, in combination: an impervious, reusable bottle having an annular neck at the top and terminating in a peripheral lip defining an open mouth, and the bottle having an external annular recess at the lip; a nursing nipple overlying the bottle mouth and lip; a disposable, impervious plastic liner received in the bottle for holding the liquid infant food and having an upper portion extending over the bottle lip under the nursing nipple and turned downwardly outside the bottleneck, the plastic liner being made of a thin tube having a peripheral width approximating that of the internal circumference of the bottle and a length greater than the height of the bottle, the thin tube being flattened and having reentrant folds at each side so that its flattened width is considerably less than half its peripheral width to facilitate entry into the bottle mouth, and the thin tube being closed at the bottom and open at the upper portion; a venting insert having means for continuously venting the area between the bottle and liner to atmosphere so the liner collapses as the liquid is dispensed therefrom, the insert having a first portion overlying the bottle lip and a second portion received in the external annular recess of the bottle; and a removable retaining cap overlying a portion of the nursing nipple for clamping the nursing nipple against the liner to provide a liquidtight seal therebetween.
 2. The combination of claim 1 wherein the reentrant folds of the plastic liner extend adjacent the center of the flattened sides so that the total flattened width of the tube is about one-quarter its peripheral width, whereby the flattened tube is easily inserted into the bottle mouth.
 3. The combination of claim 1 including a seal at the bottom of the tube to close the same, the seal extending through the reentrant folds to hold the same in position.
 4. The combination of claim 1 wherein the plastic liner has a finger-gripping tab at the center of the top of each flattened side.
 5. In a nursing unit for liquid infant food including an impervious, reusable bottle having a neck at the top and terminating in a peripheral lip defining an open mouth; a nursing nipple overlying the bottle mouth; and mounting means for mounting the nursing nipple at the bottle mouth; the improvement comprising; a disposable, impervious liner received in the bottle for holding the liquid, the liner being open at the top end and closed at the bottom, the liner being formed from a tube having a peripheral width approximating the internal circumference of the bottle, the tube being initially flat with two flat sides and two pleated sides so arranged that its flattened width is about one-quarter to one-third of its peripheral width, whereby the flattened tube is easily inserted into the bottle mouth; and annular venting means at the bottle mouth between the bottle and liner for communicating the area between the bottle and liner to atmosphere so the liner collapses as the liquid is dispensed therefrom, and the venting means having an internal diameter approximating the flattened width of the tube whereby the tube is easily inserted into the bottle with the venting means in place.
 6. The combination of claim 5 wherein the pleated sides of the tube are formed by reentrant folds at each side, the tube is formed of plastic, and the tube has a transverse weld at the bottom extending through the folded tube layers to hold the pleats in position during insertion of the liner into the bottle.
 7. In a Nursing unit for liquid infant food including a reusable bottle having a mouth defining a lip, a nursing nipple overlying the bottle mouth, and mounting means for mounting the nursing nipple at the bottle mouth; the improvement comprising: a disposable, impervious liner formed of flexible plastic and adapted to be received in the bottle for holding the liquid infant food; the liner having a seal at the bottom and having an upper portion adapted for extending over the bottle lip and turning downwardly outside the bottle mouth; the plastic liner being made of a thin tube of uniform peripheral width, the tube being flattened and having reentrant folds at opposite sides so that the flattened width is less than about one-third of the peripheral width of the tube and the flattened width being generally not greater than the diameter of the bottle mouth, whereby the flattened tube is easily inserted into the bottle through the bottle mouth.
 8. The combination of claim 7 wherein the bottle has a main body with an internal circumference equal to about the peripheral width of the tube, and a reduced neck portion adjacent the bottle mouth having an internal diameter not less than about one-quarter of the internal circumference of the bottle; the liner has a length greater than the height of the bottle; and the liner has a flattened width approximating the diameter of the bottle mouth; whereby the flattened tube is easily inserted through the bottle mouth and, when filled, lies adjacent the interior of the bottle body. 